Do you want to be a better graphic designer? There are several ways that you can work on improve graphic designer skills. One way is by following the 10 tips listed below. These tips will help even the most novice designers, and it won’t take long before you’re designing like an expert!
1. Study the design theory
Study design theory. It’s important to know what you’re doing and why you do it before creating graphics for your clients. Study books, online tutorials, or classes in order to get a good foundation of knowledge about design principles such as color usage, composition basics, and typography selections. This will also help tremendously with problem-solving when challenges arise during the designing process!
Good Design Principles:
- Color Usage – Know how colors affect the moods they convey
- Composition Basics – Understand balance within layout designs through placement of objects on a canvas or page plane
- Typography Selections – Recognize that there are different typefaces (such as serif vs sans-serif) available which can be used in various levels
2. Ask the other designers for feedback and improvement opportunities
This is an important step in the design process. Understanding how to ask for feedback from others will help you find out what improvements can be made to your work. This could include asking a colleague, boss, or client for their input on what changes they would like to see when it comes time to finalize the project!
Feedback For Improvement Opportunities:
- Ask other designers about ways that need improving and how these changes might improve your work overall
- Show samples of printed materials as well as digital versions (if applicable) so everyone can get a better idea of exactly where adjustments should be made if necessary
- Listen carefully during meetings with coworkers or clients – try not interrupting too much but take
3. Participate in a graphic design contest
You can enter contests that are either specific to graphic designers or open to any type of design profession. All entrants get feedback on their work and it’s an excellent opportunity for creatives looking for recognition and awards.
Some sponsoring organizations such as Adobe include expert judges with experience across various fields in addition to prizes from sponsors like themselves. Entering these kinds of competitions can be very helpful when trying out new techniques or styles because they provide a real-world scenario where those decisions need to be made quickly and confidently–a fantastic practice ground! Make sure you read all the rules before entering though, some will require certain file types or dimensions if submitting digitally.
4. Design Bootcamp
This is a resource for people who are looking to get an in-depth education and learn everything they need for the design industry. This Bootcamp can be taken as part of the school, or it can be done independently at your own pace. The best way to go about this is by making sure that you know where your focus will lie before signing up–whether it’s web development, digital illustration, multimedia storytelling, UX/UI Design, etc., make sure you read their curriculum and course list so that you’re fully aware of what exactly will come out of the investment into studying with them!
5. Watch Youtube tutorial by expert graphic designer
One of the best ways to learn graphic design skills is by finding a designer you can watch. Youtube has plenty of tutorials from some incredible designers like Mikey Burkhart, who talks about how he uses all sorts of different tools and techniques in Photoshop or Illustrator to make his art come alive! Watching these videos will give you an inside look into what it takes for professional designers at any level to excel. It’s also important that while watching these, try taking notes on anything new or interesting they share so that when you go back over them later, there are more things for your brain to remember–a lot of people forget about this step which means their learning process becomes much slower than if they had taken notes along the way.
6. Recreate your previous work
We recommend recreating the artwork you are most proud of from a job, but it can be anything in your portfolio that you have created before. You will want to choose projects that were successful and not just something mediocre if possible because this reassures employers why they should hire you for similar work again in the future. This also gives them an opportunity to see what else they’re capable of doing so it’s best if there is variety even within one project when trying out new techniques or changing things up with different color schemes. If time permits, create at least two versions that demonstrate more versatility as well! Make sure copies of these past creations are on hand during this assignment and available for viewing by clients or potential buyers.
7. Focus to improve your weakness
All designers have weaknesses and it’s important to identify these areas. If you know what they are, at least try your best in that area so they can be improved on later. Your strengths will always show through when given the opportunity but if those weaknesses need work then do your best to improve them!
Some suggestions include:
- Using more fonts of different styles or weights (bold/italic) for emphasis purposes
- Experimenting with new text layouts like justified or flush left instead of centering everything
- Adding an accent color for a pop while still sticking to other colors from the company palette
- Doing more research into typography and using examples found online as inspiration for future projects which may require similar designs
9. Read blogs and get inspiration from other designers
Reading blogs and getting inspired by fellow graphic design professionals is a great way to stay up-to-date on the latest industry trends. This will also help you not fall into any longstanding, bad habits in your work that you may have had before finding new ways of thinking or doing things. Most professional content creators have an email newsletter so this can be a good option for staying updated on their posts if they tend to post less frequently on social media sites like Instagram or Facebook.
A few popular examples include: Jenna Kutcher (designspiration), Matthew Leibowitz (The Velvet Ant), Jessica Hische (lettering artist & type designer), and Nicole Koropatka (Tiny Showcase)
10. Join graphic design community on Facebook
A lot of graphic design bloggers, such as Jenna Kutcher and Matthew Leibowitz, post their work on social media sites. Follow them to see what they are working on or make your own posts with finished projects! This will give you the chance to be inspired by other designers’ work from all over the world who share their processes and tips with one another in these online communities.
This is a great way to stay updated about new trends in graphic design without having to go through hours of scrolling through feeds while also seeing how others like you approach problems that can help inspire your next big project.
Conclusion
There are many reasons why you might want to improve your design skills. Perhaps, you need a new job or maybe there’s just something about the way that people look at your work and their eyebrows raise in disapproval. Whatever the reason may be, it is always best to have a plan of action before diving into an endeavor like this one because if you don’t know where you’re going, how will anyone else? If improving graphic design skills is what’s on top of your list today then we recommend taking advantage of our free online resources! Learn more here!
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